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Released regularly on Thursday afternoon or as needed in case of urgent matters.
Trading Update – 22 Aug 2024
All times hereafter are expressed in the MetaTrader platform time – GMT+3 (CEST+1).
Weekend Maintenance
Due to scheduled maintenance, all trading platforms may be temporarily unavailable between 00:00 and 03:00, on Saturday, 24 Aug 2024. Furthermore, there will be a second maintenance window during which the platforms may be unavailable between 13:00 and 18:00, on Saturday, 24 Aug 2024. Trading will be disabled during both of these maintenance windows.
Margin Requirement Changes for Hedged Positions
Effective this weekend, 24th/25th Aug 2024, the mechanism of margin requirements for hedged positions will be changed.
Currently, if you hold hedged or partially hedged positions (EG: 1 lot long XAUUSD and 0.5 lot short XAUUSD), the platform blocks the margin only for the bigger of the two sides (blocking margin for 1 lot XAUUSD in the example above). From this weekend forward, the margin requirements for hedged positions will now be calculated as the sum of all margins required for each of the positions open, regardless of whether those are effectively hedging each other. This means, that for the example above, the margin would be blocked independently for both the 1 lot long XAUSD and 0.5 lot short XAUUSD.
Our analysis shows that this change should not have any tangible impact as almost none of the active accounts use hedging of individual instruments in volumes significant enough for this change to have consequences.
Change in Stop Out level from 30% to 50%
Effective this weekend, 24th/25th Aug 2024, the automatic Stop Out level will be increased from 30% to 50%. Given the fact that accounts provided by us have the Max Loss at 90%, the accounts would generally be breached long before reaching this Stop Out level and therefore, this change does not have any tangible impact on our clients.
To explain the Stop Out further – if you opened positions utilizing full account margin – meaning that the margin level would be 100% and the account went into serious losses, the positions would get automatically closed in case the margin level dropped below 50%. Note that opening undiversified positions that utilize a large percentage of available margin is likely to result in account overexposure, which is one of the trading practices forbidden by our rules.
For more information on overexposure, please read this article.
For more information on margins and Stop Outs, please read the article.
As you may have noticed if you trade your own account with brokers or follow the trading industry news, the regulatory environment in many areas of the world has been seeing a push for tighter trading conditions. In expectation of further changes, we are implementing the above-listed changes so that our services are better aligned with the recent trends and possible future regulatory needs in some parts of the world. To clarify further, our services are not within regulatory scope, however, as we strive to align our services with how actual financial markets work, we wish to create an environment which reflects the trends in the regulatory environment of financial markets around the world.
Change in Decimal Precision for Cocoa.c Symbol
Effective from August 25, 2024, the decimal precision for the Cocoa.c symbol will be reduced from two decimal places to one. At the time of writing, the price is 7495.30 and after the change, the price would be 7495.3. The price is rarely accurate to the 2nd digit, making such precision unnecessary and resulting in slippages occurring more often than necessary.
Additional info from August 27: As the change could not be carried out on the weekend for cTrader, Cocoa.c is now set as close-only on this platform to facilitate this change. The adjustment will be made as soon as all positions are closed (by Saturday, 31st August at the latest) and full trading will be restored once it’s done.
August Bank Holiday
Due to the August Bank holiday in the UK, there will be adjustments to the trading hours. These changes are outlined below:
On Friday, 23 Aug 2024:
UK100.cash will close early at 23:00.
On Monday, 26 Aug 2024:
UK100.cash will be closed.
COCOA.c, and COFFEE.c will open late at 14:35.
On Tuesday, 27 Aug 2024:
UK100.cash will open late at 03:05.
Overnight rollover swaps are subject to regular changes and adjustments, reflecting, among other things, interest rate differentials and dividend adjustments. If you are holding positions overnight, please be reminded that it is your responsibility to check these swaps in the contract specification for each symbol, and to adjust (if needed) and manage your positions accordingly. FTMO is not responsible for trading results affected by swap changes or adjustments.
The situation in Ukraine - geopolitical development, sanctions, and markets
Due to the war in Ukraine, traders can experience increased uncertainty in the markets, accompanied by increased volatility on many assets, along with the possibility of price spikes, whipsaws, flash crashes, spread widening and liquidity supply issues. Traders are advised to pay extra caution while trading during these times. Risk management and capital preservation should be the key focus of every trader, just as being aware and adaptive to the market conditions that might be unpredictable or risky.
Unfortunately, at this time, we are not allowed to process payments to regions of Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine and our clients from there, as per the latest sanctions imposed in connection with the war in Ukraine. There are also sanctions targeting some Russian banks and high-profile individuals. We are not allowed to process any payouts to clients and banks on the sanction list. Payouts to our clients from/in the subject locations, or being subject to the sanctions list, will be possible once the imposed sanctions are lifted. Crypto payouts are included in the restrictions.
